Gore Verbinski's XBLA Game Matter Canned By Microsoft

Last week we saw one Hollywood titan exit the video game industry after an effort that was far from fruitful, and we have news of another unexpected development. After Jerry Bruckheimer decided to shutter his games division after being in existence for five years, during which no games were ever released/created under the label, word has surfaced which points to Microsoft ending their partnership with acclaimed film director Gore Verbinski.

One of the last key Hollywood figures trying to put his stamp in the video game industry, Verbinski was intent on entering the world of interactive entertainment via his new studio Blink Wink Games. Serving as the debut game for Blind Wink was Matter, a Kinect based puzzle game that was officially unveiled at E3 2012. Since being unveiled at E3 we haven’t heard much for Matter and now there’s a good reason for such a thing: Microsoft has cancelled the game.

Joystiq is reporting that Microsoft has decided to cancel Matter, which also could mean that the company has opted to end their exclusive publishing deal with Blind Wink as well. Microsoft didn’t have much to say on the issue of Matter’s cancellation, so it’s pure speculation as to why a key Kinect game, with notable Hollywood talent behind it, was suddenly given the old0fashioned heave ho into the garbage bin.

It’s unlikely that Microsoft is on the verge of having a change of heart concerning Kinect titles since the company is rumored to be heavily implementing the Kinect in future projects. If we were to speculate for a brief moment, one could make the guess that Matter may have perhaps been going over-budget; a thing which has constantly plagued Verbinski’s past projects since he’s a man that loves to provide stunning imagery no matter what the cost is.

So it’s either a case of budgetary issues that ended things for Matter or the game was simply viewed as below average – a thing which I find hard to believe considering that Iron Galaxy Studios was a development partner on the project.

The cancellation of Matter may only sting those who consider themselves part of the Kinect nation, though from a creative standpoint it’s disappointing we won’t see what Verbinski was trying to achieve in the medium of video games. As of now the only key Hollywood figure who may have a video actually hit the market is Guillermo Del Toro, who last we heard had secured a publishing/development partner for his horror based title Insane.